Pods

With Pods, players are split by rating into one group per court: 4 players, or 5 when there are more players than 4 per court. Each pod plays a short round robin on its own court, then it is done. A pod never waits for another court.

• A pod of 4 plays 3 games. Everyone plays every game, with each of the other three as a partner once.
• A pod of 5 plays 5 games. Each player plays 4 and sits out 1, and everyone partners everyone once.

Pods are for changing partners only. They are not offered while Mixed Doubles is on, and linked partners are ignored.

How pods are formed

The roster is sorted by rating and cut into pods, with the highest pod on the first court. The Start dialog shows the pods before you start:

• Where the pods of 5 go. Best fit (recommended) puts them where the ratings are most crowded, so each pod stays as close in level as possible. You can also choose the top or the bottom of the ladder, or random.
• Swap players before you start. Drag a player onto a player in another pod to swap them, or drag one from a pod of 5 onto a pod of 4. (Or tap one player, then the other.) Each change asks first, so a slip of the finger changes nothing until you tap Swap or Move. Undo all my changes puts every pod back the way it was first shown. What you see is what starts.
• Too many players? Pods hold at most 5, so a roster with more than 5 players per court can't start. Add a court or sit some players out. A roster that would leave players with no pod (6, 7 or 11 players) can't start either.

The order of each pod's games is drawn when you press Start and does not change.

Best fit, measured: in 200 simulated clubs of 37 players on 8 courts, the widest pod spanned 0.47 rating points with Best fit, and about 0.51 with the pods of 5 at the top or the bottom.

How long a pod runs

Each pod size has its own rules, so a pod of 4 and a pod of 5 finish close together. The defaults give every player about the same number of points:

	Traditional scoring	Rally scoring
Pod of 4 (3 games)	to 15	to 21
Pod of 5 (each plays 4)	to 11	to 15

For Pods, the dialog's minutes read Aim to finish all games within. No new game starts after that time. A pod running a little late still plays its last game and finishes a little late; only a pod a whole game behind skips its last game. The dialog estimates how long each pod takes, and warns you when a pod's last game would start after the time is up. Fit my time picks the longest games that still let a whole pod, breaks included, finish within that time. It goes by a typical game, so a pod with long games can run a few minutes over. If even games to 5 can't finish in time, it picks the longest games whose last one still starts in time. Games go up to 25 with side-out scoring and up to 50 with rally scoring (a rally point is about half as long, so rally to 50 takes about as long as side-out to 25). On a very long night even the longest games can finish early, and the dialog says so. The estimate for a normal pace with 5-minute breaks between games:

Pod	Each game, typical (long)	The whole pod, typical (long)
Pod of 4, traditional to 15	22 min (28)	76 min (94)
Pod of 5, traditional to 11	16 min (21)	98 min (124)
Pod of 4, rally to 21		57 min
Pod of 5, rally to 15		75 min

The estimate counts rallies with an exact model of side-out and rally scoring. It assumes about 25 seconds a rally ("normal"); choose relaxed (30 s) or fast (20 s) to match your group. Pod games have no time limit.

Pods compared with rounds

A pod night gives players the same amount of play as rounds, or more, without waiting, and every game is against your own level. What it costs is variety.

32 players on 8 courts (8 pods of 4)

	Rounds (to 11)	Pods, default rules	Pods, Fit my time (to 18)
Games per player	4.2	3.0	3.0
Minutes of play per player	66	67	82
Different people you play with or against	10.8	3	3
Average / longest wait between games	7.4 / 17 min	none	none
Courts standing empty before the 90-minute mark	28%	22%	9%
The last game ends at about	101 min	88 min	106 min

40 players on 8 courts (8 pods of 5)

	Rounds (to 11)	Pods, default rules	Pods, Fit my time (to 9)	Pods, 5-pods to 15
Games per player	3.3	4.0	4.0	3.5
Minutes of play per player	53	64	51	78
Different people you play with or against	8.8	4	4	4
Average / longest wait between games	11.7 / 39 min	3.4 / 27 min	2.8 / 22 min	4.3 / 36 min
Pods that finish all their games		99%	100%	41%
The last game ends at about	101 min	99 min	81 min	115 min

What this means:

• With 4 per court, the default rules finish early: pods are done at about 88 minutes and courts sit empty at the end. Fit my time (games to 18) fills more of the night with about 24% more play than rounds, and every pod finishes.
• With 5 per court, the default rules beat rounds on every count except variety: more games, more play, shorter waits. They run about 10 minutes past 90, though. Fit my time keeps you inside the 90 minutes with games to 9: about the same play as rounds, with much shorter waits.
• Don't stretch a pod of 5 past its time. At 5-pods to 15, most pods could not start their last game before the cutoff. Fit my time prevents that.

During the night

• Players can't check themselves out of a pod. A player's own sit-out or leave waits for you, because it changes the pod's games. To take someone out, tap them in the pod list and choose Remove (if they are on court, first mark that game Finished or Skip). A pod of 5 goes down to 4 and re-draws its remaining games. If you would rather let players leave on their own, turn on Players can check themselves out before you start.
• A pod of 4 left with 3 stops. The panel shows "Court 3 needs a player" and who could fill in: late arrivals first, then a sitting player from the nearest pod of 5.
• Late arrivals never join a pod that has started on their own. Add one to a pod with room from the panel. Four late arrivals and a free court form a new pod.
• End a pod early (or all pods, for rain): keep the scores entered so far, or void the pod's games and undo their rating changes.
• The night ends by itself when every pod is done.

Pod results

When a pod finishes, its results card shows each player's wins, losses, points and rating change (the rating change only if your group's ratings are public). The card appears on your panel, on the TV, on each player's phone, and on your group's public Games tab.

How we measured the comparison: 200 simulated nights, 90 minutes of play, 1 minute between games, game lengths from the same rally model. Rounds use games to 11 of about 15 minutes. Real pace varies, so check the dialog's estimate against your own group.